Popular Music Subculture and the Northeast Youth - K B Veio Pou Café Dissensus on March 21, 2020 https://cafedissensus.com/2020/03/21/popular-music-subculture-and-the-northeast-youth/ “Goin’ where the wind blows” John Ruskin once said, “Tell me what you like, and I’ll tell you what you are”. Often, this truth is also expressed about the taste of other things in life, like fashion or music. Sometimes, somehow, there is also a regional or generational similarity in the choices made. And the youth from the Northeast of India share a craze for western flavoured popular music, particularly of the Rock and alternative genre. The emergence of Hornbill Fest, NH7 Weekender Shillong, Ziro Fest, etc. is a manifestation of the popularity of this subculture in the region. This is an everyday reality that is expressed by the youth wherever they find themselves in. Duncan McDuie-Ra in his book Northeast Migrants in Delhi: Race, Refuge and Retail (2012) narrates how the Northeasterners found new hubs even in metro cities like Delhi where distinct flavours of food, fashion and music find expression. Back in the 1990s when I was in Shillong, there was a craze for popular music, mostly of the rock music. Collections of ‘Yearbook’ – compilation of the best songs of the year – and RSJ (Rock Street Journal) were sought after hobbies of the youth. The 90s was also the heydays of ‘Rock’ music in India. Thanks to the popularization of foreign satellite televisions those days, especially MTV, the culture had far reaching effect. The era saw the launch of the popular RSJ and GIR (Great Indian Rock) concerts which are still affecting the youth today as almost strongly as when they were newly launched. And Shillong was a rock music capital of the country, not far behind other metros like Mumbai and Bangalore in hosting international bands. The region with Shillong as the locus of music, particularly western, attracted international popular bands like Smokie, Bryan Adams, Air Supply, Firehouse, MLTR, and the Christian rock band Petra, to name a few, entertained the fans. Music is certainly a great unifier! Most people from other parts of India often ask me how it is that most young people from Northeast know how to play at least one musical instrument, especially guitar, apart from singing mellifluously. I don’t really have an answer for that but music is pretty much ingrained in the culture. Perhaps, musics flow in our veins! Reuben Mashangvah, the well-known Naga folk-guru once interestingly put it this way: Since we were kids, we get hooked to the sound of guitar. We used to work in jhum fields and earn money to buy guitars that came from Burma. But then no one could play the guitar. There was no one to teach us. What we would do was we listened to the radio and discovered the keys and chords for ourselves (David Buhril, “North East India: India’s Rock Hub” in North East Sun, December 15, 2006, p. 21). Perhaps, that explains a bit! What Reuben said is very much a shared experience of the growing up youth of the region. And undeniably, there is the influence of the western style of music and technology. Writing for RSJ while talking about the music scene in the region, Randeep Kaur says,